I hope I’m doing this right. One of the things I’m trying to do in marketing is get involved with other authors who are basically in the same boat as me. Via LinkedIn, I’ve connected with Sharon Burgess, author of Simply Irresistible: A Spruce Creek Romance. Sharon tagged me for what’s called a ‘Character Blog Hop’ where I will conduct an interview with one of my central characters from The Servant. First, though, let me introduce Sharon.

“Sharon Burgess is the pen name for writer Sharon Svitak. “Changing from Burgess from Svitak is simply a marketing decision.  Who would remember an author whose name begins with Svi? Burgess is much easier to remember and it appears earlier on bookstore shelves.”

She wrote throughout her corporate career, but it was all boringly factual—staff reports, white papers, user manuals, advertising copy. In her leisure time she read across all genres—fantasy, science fiction, westerns, mystery books. But she didn’t discover romance until after her husband’s death when she read her first Nora Roberts love story. “While my husband lived I didn’t need to read romance,” Sharon shares. “I had it in my life every day.”

She is an active member of the California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch and the San Francisco Area Chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

When she is not in front of her computer writing or editing, she is comfortably settled in her recliner with a cat in her lap and reading a romance novel.

Her first romance novel Simply Irresistible: a Spruce Creek Romance was published in print in July. The Kindle version will be available as soon as she can get it formatted for KDP. Visit her website at www.SharonBurgess.com.”

Blurb for Simply Irresistible

Kat Morelli, determined to escape the scrutiny of her parents, accepts a job as a veterinary technician in the Rocky Mountain town of Spruce Creek, Colorado. She thinks her boss is a pompous ass and she doesn’t especially like him. But when she is attacked in his clinic, she moves into his apartment for her own safety.

Jordan Walker, DVM, is a man with a lot of baggage. Since he is always dragging it with him, he is not a very nice person. But he doesn’t need to be nice to know his duty and do it. Kat was attacked in his clinic. She might still be at risk. His duty is to protect her, even if it means letting her be his roommate.

Can Jordan shed his baggage? Can Kat overcome her dislike of the surly vet? Can their relationship survive the ultimate betrayal?

My interview with Steve Bennett, Private Investigator

Please introduce yourself. Introduce myself? Come on, Robert, you know who I am.

Yeah, but the readers don’t. Come on, cooperate. Okay. My name is Steve Bennett, I’m a private investigator.

But you used to be a cop, right? I was a cop for twelve years. Made it all the way to detective.

How did you end up being a P.I.? Crap, everyone asks that question. Short answer: I punched a police captain, got demoted from detective to patrolman, and quit the department. Been working for my uncle, Charley, ever since.

Why did you punch a police captain? If you knew Harry McGowan, you’d punch him too.

Are you married? Nope. Devout bachelor.

Devout? Hey, let’s not get too personal here.

Sorry. You were shot a few months back and almost died. Tell us about it. Read about it in The Inheritance, free eBook novella at www.smashwords.com. There, I worked a plug in for you. Happy?

Ecstatic, thanks. Tell us about your most recent case. Ran up against a real nutjob who calls himself “The Servant” or “The Servant of the Lord.” This guy is beyond sick. He think’s he’s doing God’s work by killing gay people.

How did you get on the case? The psycho killed one of my best friends. Do the math.

You have some other problems besides this serial killer, don’t you? Who doesn’t? Okay, okay, don’t give me that look. Yeah, I’ve got some stuff going on. There a pimp who’s trying to kill me; that idiot, McGowan, is breathing down my neck for something I didn’t do; and my family thinks I’ve gone off the deep end. My plate’s kind of full right now.

So I see. What’s your goal in life? My goal in life? What is this, a job interview?

Steve… Oh, alright. I want to find out who murdered my little brother five years ago. The case is still unsolved.

Why? Long story and no, I’m not getting into the details.

Any other goals? The only other thing that comes to mind is getting this meter maid, jerk by the name of Barstow, to quit giving me parking tickets.

 

Hope you enjoyed my little chat with Steve. I’m supposed  to tag five other authors so here it goes.

Ellis Shuman. Here’s the intro form his blog, http://ellisshuman.blogspot.com. “Originally from Sioux City, Iowa, I have been living in Israel since the age of fifteen. I served in the Israeli army, was the founding member of a kibbutz, and currently reside on a moshav outside Jerusalem. I lived and worked in Bulgaria during the years 2009 – 2010.” Ellis the author of Valley of Thracians, a thriller set in Bulgaria.

Kirkus MacGowan. Here’s his Twitter intro: “Stay-at-home dad & Amazon bestselling author following my (pipe) dreams! I write #mystery, #suspense & #fantasy.” His Amazon Author Page can be found here.

Alysha Kaye. Author of The Waiting Room, available at: http://amzn.to/TupzK9 and@BookPeople Also: HS English teacher, obsessive traveler, food truck lover.

Carolyn Wilkins. Author of They Raised Me Up, Damn Near White and Tips For Singers. Jazz pianist, vocalist. Professor at Berklee College of Music

Max China. Max is the author of The Sister, and The Life and Times of William Boule. To find out more, visit his author page:http://amazon.com/author/maxchina